


I'm Rubber, You're Glue

by Mertiya, Zomburai



Series: The Mana Leak Coffee Shop [1]
Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Chandra is a shipper-on-deck, Jace is an awkward mess, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, They make the best team, Trans Jace, Trans Male Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 00:19:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12287268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/Mertiya, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zomburai/pseuds/Zomburai
Summary: Chandra has stickers; Jace has stress.  Hot Asshole has cheekbones.





	I'm Rubber, You're Glue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first installment of the Fandom-Obligatory Coffee Shop AU. Enjoy :)
> 
> Art by Zomburai, writing by Mertiya, plot (and an inordinately large spreadsheet full of important information) by both of us. Can't list Zomburai as a co-creator yet because he does not have an account yet, but rest assured, this will be remedied when possible.
> 
> Edit: byline is now correct!

            I hate Thursdays. Thursdays mean opening shift starting at 5 am for four hours and then class at 9:30. Also, Thursdays mean Stupidly Handsome Asshole is in at 6:40, and no one should have to deal with Stupidly Handsome Asshole before 7 am. Especially not me, Jace Beleren, because my one claim to fame is that I’m impressively good at guessing what drink you’d like. That, and I guess I’m decent at computer science.

            Local Man Is Vaguely Competent CS/Physics Major, Also Mindreading Barista. Which is what makes it so fucking irritating that Asshole consistently refuses to let me even try. And it’s even more insulting because he always gets black coffee, takes it to the back of the coffee shop, and dumps a _five hour energy_ into it. I’m not a total hipster, but come on. You don’t have to waste good coffee like that. And honestly, the Mana Leak’s coffee is pretty good, even if our shop is somewhat overly pretentious, like its owner.

            So. I hate Thursdays. This morning was particularly annoying, because I woke up at 4 am with a horrible hacking cough, forced my binder on over my head in a groggy daze, and realized I couldn’t call in sick to work because it was just me and Chandra on shift one. Leaving Chandra by herself would probably result in not only the destruction of the local coffee shop, but somehow the implosion of the entire franchise into the bargain.

                                          

            “Jace!” Chandra greeted me eagerly when I raced into the shop, because of course the bus had managed to be late into the bargain. “I have stickers!”

            “What,” I said.

            “Stickers!” She was actually bouncing up and down, and I was somewhat concerned because Chandra never manages to have her shoelaces stay tied, and she is not exactly the most graceful of people. “I went to the first meeting of the LGBTQ club last night, and they were giving out rainbow stickers!”

            “That’s…great?” I hazarded, tying on my apron and trying not to cough.

            “So you should put one on!”

            I swallowed and shifted. “Chandra, you know I don’t like it when people realize that I’m—”

            She gave me a wicked grin. “So that Hot Asshole knows you’re into men, I mean.”

            My ears were heating up. “That is a terrible idea,” I told her as I started to get out our equipment. “Firstly, _he’s_ probably not into guys, and I don’t need any more hassle than I already get. Secondly, he’s a dick. He won’t even let me try to figure out what drink he’d like.”

            “Maybe that’s because he wants to be more _mysterious_ for you,” Chandra said cheerfully. “C’mon, Jace. It won’t hurt anything. I swear I’ve seen him checking you out.”

            “He probably thinks I’m a girl,” I said darkly.

            “No one thinks you’re a girl. You don’t look anything like a girl.”

            “Tell that to Alpha Dudebro,” I muttered. Alpha Dudebro comes in every Thursday night and orders a succession of our alcoholic selection. Then he leaves and comes back in when we open on Friday morning, completely smashed, and tries to get us to give him Irish coffee with the whiskey, even though we only serve alcohol after nine pm. I regret ever suggesting the drink to him, because he also hits on me every single time, and I happen to be highly aware that he is straight as fuck.

            “Alpha Dudebro is constantly high, even when he’s not drunk,” Chandra pointed out, peeling a sticker off of the sheet instead of actually helping me set up. She looked at it almost meditatively for a moment before poking it towards me. “Hot Bi Barista Seeks Cute Guy,” she suggested.

            I ducked. “How about not?”

            “Jaaaaace.”

            “Will you please just help me open?”

            Gideon would probably be arriving pretty soon as well, or, as I sometimes think of him, Unfairly Hot Coworker. He’s six foot two and built like a brick shithouse, to be somewhat vulgar. And honestly, he and Stupidly Hot Asshole aren’t even the only ones. It’s so unfair.

            What a trial, you might think, being surrounded by incredibly handsome men when you’re at least as bi as I am—and let’s be honest, my track record with women has been, well, subpar, at best. But I mean, investigated critically, the situation is just—kind of sad. I’m a weedy little guy, and I’m a nerd, and my “fashion” runs to hoodies and jeans that I can wade in that will hide anything I don’t want people to see. I am not the kind of guy people take a second look at, is my point.

            I mean, I’m also surrounded by ridiculously attractive women, but at least they don’t give me the double whammy of being cute _and_ being what I wish I looked like. Also, after the last few complete disasters, I’ve gotten a little wary of dating women, which I know is silly, but. Well. She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named really did a number on my head. It feels safer to be attracted to be men now. Which, yes. I continue to be aware is stupid.

            “Put on a sticker and I’ll make the first ten drinks today.”

            “No!” Chandra took a step towards me, and I took a step away. The next second I found myself running away from her as she chased me towards the door. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh—it _was_ kind of funny—or yell. And of course that was the moment that Hot Asshole chose to walk in and I ran right into him.

                                                                                                                                                                              

            “Oh, _shit_ ,” I gasped. He swung to the side, somehow managing not to drop the laptop that he was carrying in his left hand, but the pile of books under his arm went straight to the ground. “Oh, Jesus, I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”

            He stood there blankly for a long second, looking from his computer to the books and back to his computer. It looked like he was performing some kind of extremely difficult mental calculation—it’s a look I’m very familiar with. Some people are _really_ not meant to be awake too early. “Um, I’ll just, um. I’ll get your books,” I managed. “Chandra, can you get Ho—Mr—uh—to a seat? And get him his coffee?”

            At least the fact that I had nearly run over a customer seemed to subdue Chandra a little, which was a relief. Even better, no one other than Hot Asshole arrived in the first few minutes of opening, which meant that I was able to get the coffee started and send Chandra over with a free cup for Asshole without any more disasters. I even managed not to roll my eyes when he produced his customary five-hour-energy and up-ended it into his mug. I was proud of that.

            By the time he’d finished his cup of coffee and was awake enough to have out his laptop and be working on something, a few more of our regulars had come in, and it was getting close to time for Gideon to be clocking in. I headed over to get Asshole’s mug, and I was just picking it up when I found Chandra poking her head around my shoulder.

            “Chandra,” I said through my teeth, “we have other customers.”

            “Hey,” Chandra said to Hot Asshole. “You’re gay, right?”

            I knew I needed to say something, but my voice was caught in my throat. What had she just _said_? _Why_?

            Asshole, looking distinctly more alert, glanced up. “Yeah,” he said, sounding not in the least offended, and I nearly dropped the mug. He’d sounded significantly more ferocious the day I offered to guess what coffee he’d like. “Why?”

            “Would you like a sticker?”

            “Uh. Sure?”

            “Great! It’s on the house!”

            I just kind of stood there as Hot Asshole took the sticker, raised an eyebrow at it, and stuck it onto his brace.

            “Jace,” Chandra said wickedly. “Would you like one, too?”

            I ran a hand through my hair. Checkmate. One-zero, Chandra’s favor. “Yes,” I said. “I, um. Would also like a sticker. Because I’m gay.”  _Actually bi, but I don't really want to get into that right now._

            Hot Asshole smirked at me as I took the sticker from Chandra, and, feeling ridiculous, stuck it in the center of my hoodie. “I’m Ral, by the way,” he said. “I think I’ve seen you around the CS building.”

            “Probably,” I mumbled towards my shoes. “I, um, I’m a physics/CS major when I’m not—well. Here.”

            “Cool,” he said. “So, hey, if you want to, uh, study together sometime.” He shoved a piece of paper at me. “Here’s my number.”

            I stared at it. “Um,” I managed to say. “Cool. That sounds fun.”

            I managed to make it back behind the counter somehow with Ral’s empty mug and almost bumped into Gideon, who was just coming in. “I think I have a date?” I told him. “Or at least I think I managed to flirt awkwardly with another awkward nerd.”

            Gideon smiled at me. “Well done!” he told me, which is Gideon all over. He didn’t even seem remotely surprised that my awkward, scrawny ass had managed to behave like a semi-competent human being.

            Chandra followed me over. “Hi, Gideon!” she said cheerfully. “Would you like a sticker?”

            Somehow, I didn’t feel inclined to be annoyed with her anymore.


End file.
